I love maamoul! They’re one of my favorite things to bake, eat and gift! I have tested lots of maamoul recipes, and I have always loved the one in the book and the one on my website, but the question is: “Do I really need another maamoul recipe to share with my readers?” If you are looking for a quick recipe that doesn’t involve long periods of dough rest, or if you’re running into issues with any other maamoul recipe, the answer then is yes, you need this recipe in your life! It is a quick and easy version, even a novice baker can easily make, they’re melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and it’s impossible to eat one without reaching for a second! What makes this the easiest maamoul is that the dough recipe uses just a few ingredients, flour, ghee, mahlab and sweetened condensed milk, yes you read that right sweetened condensed milk.  Maamoul dough is often made with semolina, or a combination semolina and flour, but this recipe just calls for flour with no leavening. The maamoul cookies are just as fun to make as they are to eat.

Date Maamoul with Sweetened Condensed Milk (Video)

Maamoul is the most popular short bread cookie made around Eid and Easter in Lebanon and the Middle East, it is exclusively baked and sold during these festive occasions; but we also prepare them year-round for gatherings with friends and family to satisfy our sweet cravings with a cup of coffee or tea.

The recipe is adapted from Chef Omar, an extremely passionate and immensely talented Youtuber chef whom I watched many of his cooking shows, I sort of think of his channel as my go-to for food fun videos. While he teaches you how to cook great recipes, it is entertaining to watch his enjoyable shows from start to finish with his positive humor style. Check him out if you know Arabic, he is a true inspiration. The only tweaks I made is that I added a bit more sweetened condensed milk to make the dough more malleable, and I added too mastic to the date filling!

Dates: Use fleshy, soft and moist dates like Omani, Khudri or Medjool dates, and avoid any dry type, since you are going to transform them to a soft paste.

Ghee:  Ghee is the backbone in this recipe, so using the most delicious brand is crucial for successful maamoul. Not all ghee brands are equally reliable, use the best ghee you can find!

Mastic: Adds an aromatic flavor to the date filling and will take the maamoul to a whole new level.

Mahlab, or Mahleb: an aromatic white spice, used in the Middle East for baked goods.

To make the dough: In a large bowl, add together the flour, ghee, mahlab and sweetened condensed milk. Use your hands to knead the mixture until everything is blended together. The mixture will first crumble, continue kneading until you have a smooth malleable dough. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the freezer for about 20 minutes until cold but not frozen. The dough should pliable and easy to work with, follow the recipe and you should end up with a malleable dough! But for any reason if it is too dry, it will crack while baking, to avoid that add just a bit of sweetened condensed milk until the dough is moist enough to be easily shaped. If the cookie dough is too sticky to work with, add just a bit of flour until you reach the desired consistency. Watch the video tutorial below!

To make the filling:  Pull open the dates by hand and release the pits. Transfer the dates to a food processor and add the ghee, orange blossom water and mastic gum, blend to get a paste. If your food processor is having a hard time making the chunks smaller and smooth, add a couple of tablespoons of water into the mix. Watch the video below!

Maamoul are formed by pressing the dough into a special mold, resulting in an eye-catching beautiful design. While the first molds were made of carved wood, today they are produced by specialty cookware and bake ware manufacturers in plastic, but I still prefer to use my wooden mold!

• Roll the date into small balls roughly the size of an apricot, if the dates are sticking to your hands rub your hands with a little oil. Set aside.
• Divide the dough it into equal balls, the same size of the date balls.

To put together: Make a hole in the center of a dough ball, with your finger fill the hole with a date ball. Seal the hole patching the dough together and roll it into a ball. Transfer each stuffed ball into the mold, pressing it lightly in to level it up with the mold. Gently tap the mold on a countertop, converting it and the maamoul will come out.  A simple trick to avoid sticking the dough, is to sprinkle the mold with a pinch of fine semolina (farina). It works like magic!

Place it on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, repeat with the remaining dough and date, no need to keep a space between one maamoul and another, with the absence of leavening, these cookies will not rise nor spread. Bake about 15-20 minutes to a golden color. Remove from the oven and brush the top of each maamoul with some ghee, optional, but recommended! The good thing about this recipe is that the maamoul cookies perfectly hold their shape after baking due to the absence of leavening, so no rise nor spread!

If you’re looking for a lovely addition to your cookie collection, look no further. Making this recipe is easy. But it does help to watch the video tutorial so that you can learn visually all the steps. Follow the recipe closely, especially the first time you make it! 

• Author:Hadia Zebib Khanafer, 
• Prep Time: 40 minutes
• Baking time: 15- 20 minutes
• Serving: Makes 25 pieces

1 cup is 250 ml

Ingredients

Dough:

• 500 grams/ 1 lb 2 oz. / 3 3/4 cups  all- purpose flour
• 250 grams/ 9 oz  ghee/ 1 cup
• 200 ml / 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon mahlab

Filling:

• 500 grams/ 1 lb 2 oz dates with pits
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 2 tablespoons orange blossom flower
• 5 granules of mastic gum, crushed with a pinch of sugar
• A bit more water, if needed to loosen the dates

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add together the flour, ghee, mahlab and sweetened condensed milk. Use your hands to knead the mixture until everything is blended together. The mixture would first crumble, continue kneading until you have a smooth malleable dough. . Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the freezer for about 20 minutes until cold but not frozen.
2. In the meantime, prepare the filling: Pull open the dates and and release the pits by hand.
3. Transfer the dates to a food processor and add the ghee, orange blossom water and mastic gum, blend to get a paste. If your food processor is having a hard time making the chunks smaller and smooth, add a couple of tablespoons of water into the mix.
4. Roll the date into small balls roughly the size of an apricot, if the dates are sticking to your hands rub your hands with a little oil. Set aside.
5. Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 430 °F. Position the baking rack in the middle of the oven.
6. Remove the dough from the freezer and knead well. The dough should pliable and easy to work with! If it is too dry, it will crack while baking, to avoid that add just a bit of sweetened condensed milk until the dough is moist enough to be easily shaped. If the cookie dough is too sticky to work with, add just a bit of flour until you reach the desired consistency. Divide it into equal balls, roughly the size of an apricot.
7. Make a hole in the center of each ball, with your finger fill the hole with a date ball. Seal the hole patching the dough together and roll it into a ball.
8. Transfer each stuffed ball into the mold, pressing it lightly in to level it up with the mold. A simple trick to avoid sticking the dough, is to sprinkle the mold with a pinch of fine semolina (farina). It works like magic!
9. Gently tap the mold on a countertop, converting it and the maamoul will come out.
10. Place it on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, repeat with the remaining dough and date, no need to keep a space between one maamoul and another, with the absence of leavening, these cookies will not rise nor spread.
11. Bake about 15-20 minutes to a golden color. The bottom-side of the maamoul should be slightly browned, but not burnt, so keep an eye on your maamoul while baking. Remove from the oven and brush the top of each maamoul with some ghee, optional, but recommended!

The recipe can be doubled easily to feed a large crowd!

Storage: Maamoul hold up well to storage, but make sure they are completely cool before storing to prevent them from softening. Store in an airlock glass storage container, at room temperature and they will last for 2 weeks.

Another Date Filled Lebanese Sweet Worth Learning: Tamara, Date Filled Ghraybeh with Pistachios.

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Another great maamoul recipe worth checking out: Pistachio Maaoul

If you make "Date Maamoul with Sweetened Condensed Milk" , leave a comment below, or share your pictures on Facebook! I would love to see your creations!! Hashtag, #Hadia’s lebanese Cuisine